University header page (BREO template provided)
- Your name
- The date
- The name of the course
- The name of the department and University
- Any statements of confidentiality (page ii).
Abstract (max 250 words) Not included in word count
- The stated aims and objectives
- What it looked at (the business problems)
- How it looked at it (research methods, concepts, models)
- What was found
- The limitations of the research
- What conclusions can be drawn, and recommendations made.
- Should be a concise and comprehensive summary of a study. It should aim to explain very briefly (approx. 150, no more than 200 words) a study’s content.
- Start with a one sentence summary, providing the aim and rationale for the study?
- Describe (briefly) participants and setting: who, when, where, how many, what groups?
- Describe (briefly) the method: e.g., questionnaires or semi-structured interviews or correlational study?
- Outline the findings, which may include the main statistical outcomes such as the significance levels, or simply one sentence summing up the outcome. Thematic analyses outcomes should be included in relation to such qualitative studies as semi-structured and unstructured interviews.
- Does its final sentence/s point to the study’s `contribution to knowledge` within the literature?
- Implications: what does it all mean?
- Does it mention some limitations of the findings?
List of Contents
List of Figures and/or Tables (if applicable)
Chapter 1: Introduction (Max 1,000 words)
- The detailed aims and objectives
- Research Question
- Rational
- Background history, if necessary
- Identification of the business problem
- What the report intends to achieve
- The conceptual/theoretical framework to be used
- Any definition of terms (if no Glossary)
- The general methodology to be used in the investigation
- Potential Outcome
Chapter 2: Literature Review (Max 2,000 words)
- In your Introduction and Literature review section – what kind of theories/models will you include? Your research idea needs to relate to previous studies (quantitative and qualitative). The purpose of the introduction is to explain where the set arguments or hypotheses, come from. It must be explicit regarding how the research outlined links to the aim/hypothesis of the study in question. Subsequently, it needs to Start with briefly introducing the topic, including definitions (if relevant) and then include main theory/s and themes within the literature. Make sure to organise your literature review chapter by “themes” as identified from your researching the literature. You will need separate headings for identified themes/issues that should be research-based. Then, progressively narrow down to specific and relevant theory/s and research that relate to your research question.
- There should be a logical progression of ideas which aids the flow of the study. This means that the studies outlined should lead logically into the aim, main argument and/or hypotheses.
- Literature gap: The term "literature gap" typically refers to a gap or deficiency in the existing body of literature or research on a particular topic. It implies that there is a lack of sufficient or comprehensive information, studies, or academic works addressing a specific aspect of a subject. Identifying a literature gap is an essential part of the research process because it helps you understand what areas have not been adequately explored or studied. You need to conduct literature review to assess the existing knowledge on a topic and to identify gaps in that knowledge. Once a literature gap is identified, it can serve as a basis for formulating research questions and designing studies to address the missing information. Analysis of theory vs reality is one way to identify and then link to theories and frameworks that explain the gap. these can then be used to explain or explore the problem further.
Chapter 3: Methodology (Max 1,800 words)
- In your Methodology chapter, define the methodology adopted and differentiate with a method and compare the Quantitative Approach (possesses strong reliability and generalizability, but it has low ecological validity) with the Qualitative Perspective (has problems with reliability and generalizability, but it possesses good validity) and justify your choice.
- Philosophical assumption:your philosophical assumption is likely to be Positivism or interpretivism.
- Positivism is a paradigm that relies on measurement and reason, that knowledge is measurable (quantifiable) observation of activity, action or reaction hence data collection approach is survey or questionnaire and the approach is quantitative. Positivism is closely associated with quantitative methods of data collection. The research approach is Deductive.
- Interpretivism is based on the assumption that reality is subjective, multiple and socially constructed. That is to say we can only understand someone’s reality through their experience of that reality, which may be different from another person’s shaped by the individuals’ historical or social perspective. Interpretive approaches rely on questioning and observation and conducting interviews in order to discover or generate a rich and deep understanding of the phenomenon being investigated. This is closely associated with qualitative methods of data collection such as interviews. The research approach will be Inductive.
- If you are proposing a qualitative study, discuss what are you going to include in your subheadings? Do not forget about the three ‘macro’ designs: exploratory (qualitative), descriptive (qualitative and quantitative). Concerning validity and reliability, you can either create a separate heading for these concepts, or integrate them as suggested above.
- Validity in Quantitative Research:
- In quantitativeresearch, validity refers to the extent to which a study measures what it is supposed to measure. There are several types of validity that are commonly used in quantitative research, including:
- Content validity: This refers to whether the study covers all aspects of the construct being measured. Researchers can assess content validity by reviewing the items or questions in a survey or questionnaire to ensure that they are representative of the construct being measured.
- In quantitative research, reliability refers to the consistency and stability of the measures used in a study. A reliable measure should produce consistent results over time. There are several types of reliability that are commonly used in quantitative research, including:
- Internal consistency reliability: This refers to the consistency of results when multiple items measure the same construct. Researchers can assess internal consistency reliability by using statistical methods such as Cronbach`s alpha, which indicates the correlation between items within a measure.
- Validity in Qualitative Research (Interviews)
- In qualitative research, validity refers to the extent to which the findings of a study accurately represent the phenomenon being studied. There are several types of validity that are commonly used in qualitative research, including:
- Construct validity: This refers to whether the study measures a construct as it is theoretically defined. Researchers can assess construct validity by ensuring that the data collected is consistent with the theoretical definition of the construct being studied.
- Internal validity: This refers to the extent to which the findings of a study can be attributed to the phenomenon being studied, rather than to extraneous factors. Researchers can assess internal validity by using techniques such as member checking, triangulation, and prolonged engagement.
- External validity: This refers to the extent to which the findings of a study can be generalized to other populations, settings, or contexts. Researchers can assess external validity by ensuring that the sample is representative of the population being studied, and by reporting the characteristics of the sample.
- In summary:
- Method: E.g., survey/questionnaire, correlation or semi-structured interviews? Justify your choice by pointing to these methods’ advantages (leave the disadvantages in the ‘Limitations’-subheading-section). Present a strong justification for your choice of data collection method. Make sure to discuss the Schedule of data collection and the process by which data is cleansed and formatted for analysis.
- Participants/sample: E.g., convenience, self-selected and so forth (give some advantages of your chosen sample – again describe disadvantages in the ‘Limitations’ section).
- Don’t forget about who is your target population and how many will be selected? (100 minimum in a quantitative research and aim for approx. 10 concerning, e.g., semi-structured interviews).
- Who is your gate-keeper? If your qualitative study involves semi-structured interviews, then your sample is ‘purposive’. Remember that overall, it is highly unlikely for your sample to be random, where every participant from your target population has an equal chance of being selected.
- Subsequently, if your study is quantitative, the sample will probably be ‘convenience’ or ‘self-selected’.
- Choose the most appropriate sampling method based on your research design
- Make sure to justify your choices and discuss the pros and cons with the adopted approach.
- Research Procedure: From A – Z describe how you will be conducting your research. Remember to include your e.g., questionnaire or questions for semi-structured interviews in the Appendices section.
- Ethics: Briefing; confidentiality, deception, right to withdraw, protection from harm and debriefing
- Validity asks
- if an instrument measures what it is supposed to
- how “true” or accurate the measurement is
- Reliability is:
- the consistency of your measurement instrument
- the degree to which an instrument measures the same way each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects
Ethics are an important consideration in primary research, as they guide the conduct of the research and ensure that the rights and welfare of the participants are protected. Some key ethical considerations in primary research include:
- Informed consent: Participants must be fully informed about the nature of the study and give their voluntary consent to participate.
- Confidentiality and privacy: Participants` personal and sensitive information must be protected and kept confidential.
- Withdrawal from investigation
- Minimizing harm: The study must be designed to minimize any potential harm to the participants.
- Deception
- Debriefing at the end of the study
- Objections to deception
- Protection of participants
- Deception: Participants should not be deceived about the nature of the study.
- Protection of vulnerable populations: Special precautions must be taken when working with vulnerable populations such as children, prisoners, or individuals with mental illness.
- Data integrity: The data must be collected and handled in a way that ensures its integrity and accuracy.
- Respect for participant autonomy: The participants have the right to withdraw from the study at any time and for any reason, without penalty
- It`s also important to keep in mind that the ethical guidelines may vary depending on the country, region and specific organization you are affiliated with, so it`s important to check with them before starting your research.
- Informed consent
- Before the study begins the researcher must outline to the participants what the research is about, and then ask their consent (i.e. permission) to take part.
- However, it is not always possible to gain informed consent. This is acceptable as long as what happens to the participants is something that could easily happen to them in everyday life. For example, if the research involves observing people in a bus queue, those people may be observed by anyone when they are in the queue.
- Make sure to fully explain how ethical approval was received.
- Make sure to use the ethical approval form provided on BREO. The ethics form needs to be signed by your supervisor and submitted on to BREO in week 5.
• Chapter 4: Findings/Analysis/Discussion (Max 2,000 words)
- Qualitative data: State how you will analyse your quantitativedata (identify the relevant level of measurement, e.g., nominal, ordinal or interval, or ratio, and graphical representations e.g., pie-charts, bar-charts, histograms or scattergrams (the latter for correlational analyses).
(a) Measures of central tendency:
- Mean.
- Mode.
- Median.
(b) Measures of dispersion:
- The range.
- Standard deviation (SD).
- Qualitative data: State how you will analyse qualitative findings, e.g., semi-structured interviews using thematic analysis. Remember about coding, categorizing and creating themes – thematic analysis).
• Chapter 5: Conclusions (Max 500 words)
- Chapter 6: Reflection (Max 700 words) Please note this should be reflective not descriptive
Your reflection must be based on the process of your report development; what you have learned, your ability to relate theory to practice. How your skills have developed, your ability to relate the dissertation learning to your future career path.
• References (and Bibliography if appropriate)
- Adhere to the Harvard System requirements – remember that you need to include more journal articles in comparison with textbooks. There should be about 120 sources (or more) on the Reference Page.
• Appendices
- Need to be numbered and correspond with the dissertation’s main text.
- This section MUST include
- Your raw data, e.g., Completed questionnaires and transcribed interviews.
- Consent form
- Participant information sheet
- Ethics form signed by your supervisor
